The Babysitter's Club
by BlueSuedeShoes
Summary: Oliver gets trapped into babysitting: “Oliver? What’s u--” she stopped. “What on earth is that noise?” “That, Chloe, is your cousin’s spawn, and it won’t stop. Help.”


**Author's Comment: So, I got bored, and went online seeking out prompts for Chlollie stories, I stumbled across the following link:**

**.**

**and am taking on suggestion no. 3 from voodooman. As a little added research, I decided to find out whether in any of the Superman universes Clark Kent and Lois Lane actually did have kids. Hooray for Google, because I found a very helpful blog that listed all the possible Superman kiddies:**

**.**

**From there I found Lara Kent, who just seemed perfect to me. So cheers to "Voodooman" for the prompt, and to "Reckless Enthusiasm" for the Superman insight. (I believe that was the blogger's pen name.)**

**BlueSuedeShoes**

* * *

"No."

"Oliver--"

"No. Absolutely not. Have you lost your mind?"

"It's for two days, Oliver. It won't kill you."

"I'm serious, Lois. Don't you dare leave that child with me if you want to see it in one piece when you get back!"

Lois rolled her eyes irritably. "Look, I haven't got time for this. Clark said he talked to you."

"He didn't."

"Well, I'll murder him later, then. But right now I don't have time to find anyone else. I was counting on you."

Great, now he felt like a complete jerk if he said no. "Fine," he said with an unnecessary groan. "Just don't kill me if it doesn't go too well."

"Relax. She's two. You'll be fine. She can barely even walk yet. How much trouble do you expect to get into?"

Oliver shook his head, an ominous feeling sinking in on him as Lois shoved the baby into his arms and dropped an oversized Vera Bradley bag on the counter of his kitchen.

"All the instructions are written down in there. Don't call unless it's an absolute emergency. I'm going to be tied up all weekend and I can't handle anymore roaming charges on my phone. Same goes for Clark." Oliver glowered at her.

"Just go before my senses return," he told her irritably, holding the sleeping girl awkwardly in his arms. "She talk yet?" he asked uncertainly.

"A little," Lois grinned.

Oliver could only be sure of one thing, though, as he watched his ex-girlfriend's back retreat: If this child was the offspring of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, she was going to be a major hand full.

* * *

Three hours had passed and Oliver was already in way over his head. She had suddenly started crying furiously and he didn't have the slightest idea what to do. He tried to get her to form complete sentences and tell him what she wanted, but she just emitted an incoherent babble. He couldn't make heads or tails of it.

All he knew was that one minute she'd been coloring and the next minute she was in tears, howling like there was no tomorrow. He tried telling her the picture she'd drawn was very pretty (feeling like a complete buffoon the whole time) but she'd only cried harder.

He asked if she was hungry to no avail.

Lois's instructions indicated that she'd already had a nap for that day, which had extended on the car ride to be dropped off at his place.

She wasn't scared or anything. That had already been established when she'd woken up and told him with a voice and expression scarily reminiscent of her mother that she wanted to color. She'd met Oliver briefly once or twice and adored him, so upon an attempt to teach her his name, she had gravely dubbed him "Unkie Lollie."

He looked around his now trashed apartment. There were toys everywhere, an empty sippy cup lying on the couch, and a plate of half-eaten chicken nuggets were on the kitchen table.

He stared at his cell phone, knowing he was going to have to grit his teeth and do it. She was never going to let him live it down.

Sucking in his breath he pressed the first button on his speed dial. Never mind why she was number one. He'd just accepted that that was the way it was a while ago when he realized he'd successfully made it an entire month last fall with phone calls to only her.

"Oliver? What's u--" she stopped. "What on _earth_ is that noise?"

"That, Chloe, is your cousin's spawn, and it won't stop. Help."

He heard her giggle. "Why on earth is she with you?"

"Lois claimed that Clark had lined me up as a babysitter weeks ago. Methinks Superman may have forgotten a relatively important detail in his personal life."

He could almost see Chloe shaking her head. "What do you want me to do?" she asked, probably already knowing the answer.

"Drop whatever you're doing and come over to my place and save me?" he said realistically.

She giggled again. "Okay. Think you can hold down the fort for another fifteen until I get there?"

"Just get over here," he said irritably, keeping a wary eye on the flailing toddler all the while.

Chloe arrived in ten minutes, and Oliver inwardly thanked her for the traffic laws she'd probably broken to accomplish that feat.

Chloe ignored him upon entering his apartment, and instead headed straight to the source of trouble, kneeling before the little girl and dropping an oversized bag on the ground, not unlike the one Lois had left Oliver.

"Hi, Lara," she said brightly. "What's wrong sweetie?"

The little girl only sniffed ungracefully, tears spilling over her round face.

Chloe looked at the scattered crayons and pieces of paper on the floor before her. "Oh, what a pretty picture," Chloe said, picking up the one Lara had been working on. "Hmm...you look like you ran out of pink for the petals, though, huh?" She rummaged in her bag, producing a fresh box of crayons and presenting Lara with the pink one.

Lara's tears came to an abrupt halt, and she rubbed her face with her hands before rewarding Chloe with a kiss on the face, accepting the crayon gladly. "Thank Lolo," she said, using her name for Chloe. Then she laid down on her stomach and began to finish the picture she'd been coloring.

Chloe stood up to find Oliver gaping at her.

"What?"

"She was crying over the crayon?"

Chloe shrugged. "When you're two, your world consists of little more, so why not?"

Oliver was still in shock. "Here I thought something was seriously wrong with her," he laughed weakly, shaking his head in disbelief.

Chloe smirked in amusement. "So why on earth did they ask you to be Mr. Mom for the weekend?" she asked.

"I have no idea what they were thinking," he said, raising an eyebrow as he watched Lara color industriously.

"Me either," she said. Then, a little awkwardly, "Well, I guess if there's nothing else you need help with--"

"Don't go!" Oliver said, panic seizing him. "What if she starts up again?"

Chloe bit her lip uncertainly. "Well, I haven't got anywhere else to be, so as long as you want me--"

"I do,' Oliver said hurriedly. "Please stay."

She rewarded him with a smile, and Oliver couldn't help but remember that there was a time when that smile hadn't seemed so rare...if it had been just as valuable.

"So how are you?" he asked, collapsing in an arm chair right behind Lara.

"I'm fine," she said.

"I haven't seen much of you lately," he said, trying to keep the accusation out of his voice. It was evident that she'd started avoiding him more and more.

She shrugged evasively. "I've been e-mailing you. And I see you when we have league meetings." She took a seat on the couch across from him.

He shook his head. "You know what I mean. We used to see each other a lot more outside of work. And the e-mails used to be phone calls." He knew he was heading down a dangerous path. He shouldn't bring it up. He was setting himself up for another fight with her, but somehow he couldn't stop himself. He needed to confront her. He missed her.

"E-mail is faster," Chloe answered him, watching the little girl before her rather than looking him in the eye.

"Sorry you don't have time for me anymore," he said a touch sarcastically, but not harshly. She sent him a brief glare. He sighed.

"It's a two-way street," she reminded him after a long pause. "You can call me any time you want."

"Yes, but will you answer?" he pointed out before he could stop himself.

She looked at him for a moment, and he wondered what she was thinking. Then finally, she said with a light sigh, "Always."

He frowned at her, not sure what to say next, so instead he looked down to see what Lara was drawing now. She had set aside the one with the pink flowers that had been so vital only minutes before. She appeared to be drawing a picture of Superman. Fantastic. He wondered whether Lara were aware yet that her dad was Superman.

"Does she know about Clark?" he asked Chloe, frowning at the picture.

"Actually I don't think so..." Chloe said, smiling a little as she, too, leaned over to see the picture. "Loose lips and all," she added.

While she was leaning to watch Lara, Oliver seized the opportunity to give her a once over. Chloe looked good. A little stressed perhaps, probably in part due to him, but also like she hadn't been sleeping well. That was far from being abnormal with her, but it still made him worry, just like it always had.

He wondered for the millionth time how he'd let Chloe slip through his fingers.

Things had gone well...sort of, when their "relationship" took off. But there had been no name for it, no rules or boundaries, so after a year of that, when someone else asked Chloe out, she hadn't known what to do. She confronted Oliver, and he, being the jerk that he was, told her to do whatever the hell he wanted, instead of showing weakness for one blasted moment of his life to tell her he didn't want her to even be in the same room as other men, let alone date them.

Whoever the other guy was, Chloe hadn't formed anything serious with him, not that Oliver was aware of anyway. That was probably the worst part for him. If Chloe had left him for her Prince Charming or whatever she wanted to call it, well, he would have dealt with it, convinced himself that she was getting what she deserved and that he was far from being good enough for her anyway. But no, she'd ended things with him for a guy who wasn't even worth a second date apparently, and now here they were, months later, pretending pitifully that it wasn't awkward.

He felt like he was in middle school.

Lara sat up with a satisfied sigh. She walked over to Chloe and handed her the picture of flowers, which Chloe gushed over, to Lara's eternal delight. She then walked up to Oliver and presented him with the picture of Superman. Oliver forced a smile, taking the picture from her. "Wow," he said, trying to ignore Chloe choking back silent laughter on the couch.

"Why don't you draw a picture of Robin Hood?" Chloe suggested, calming herself enough to talk reasonably. "I bet Uncle Oliver would love that." She took the picture from Oliver and went over to scotch tape it to his fridge along side hers.

A deep frown of confusion graced the toddlers angelic features. "Who?"

Oliver gasped melodramatically. "You don't know who Robin Hood is?" he asked in exaggerated shock, making the little girl giggle. "Chloe, this is a seriously deprived child. I'm calling Social Services in the morning."

Chloe shook her head in amusement.

"I wonder if I can order the Disney movie on Pay-Per-View?" he said thoughtfully, looking at the TV.

"Movie! Movie!" Lara said excitedly, recognizing at least half of what he said.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "You'd better be able to now," she warned with a grin. "You've got her hopes up."

Ten minutes later, Oliver had actually managed to get the movie up, and Lara had insisted (once again reminding Oliver forcibly of her mother) that he and Chloe sit on either side of her on the couch. She watched avidly as the cartoon animals flitted across the screen, giggling uncontrollably when Prince John started sucking his thumb for the first time.

"Not knowing who Robin Hood is..." Oliver muttered darkly under his breath. "Worst parenting I've ever heard of."

Chloe just raised an amused eyebrow at him as Lara fidgeted in her seat.

The next thing Oliver knew, Lara was climbing into his lap. He raised his arms awkwardly to allow for it, looking at Chloe for help. She just shook her head, fighting back a smile. Lara settled obliviously onto his lap and he eventually put an arm around her, throwing one over the back of the couch.

He was useless with kids. It wasn't that he didn't like them. Actually, he loved them. Lara in particular was an especially sweet little girl, and for whatever reason she seemed to just worship him. Trouble was, like them or not, Oliver had no idea how to _deal_ with kids. He didn't know the first thing about childcare. He hadn't exactly babysat growing up.

Eventually he relaxed and started absentmindedly playing with her dark brown curls as they watched the movie.

* * *

Chloe bit back a sigh, watching Oliver's fingers toy with Lara's hair. She hated how natural this felt, her sitting beside Oliver with a little kid.

Maybe the little kid was a bit much, but she still missed being around Oliver, and she hadn't expected it to be so easy to just slide back into the old habits. She carefully maintained a good six inches between them on the couch, knowing that if she wasn't careful, she would end up snuggling into him just like Lara.

She knew what Oliver had been implying earlier, that she was avoiding him. It was true, even if she didn't want him to know it. She'd just finally realized that she had to get over him, and the best way to do that was to ease him out of her life.

She wondered somewhat sadly what had happened between them. She was still shocked and more than a little hurt that he'd let her go so easily. She hadn't even been interested in the guy who asked her out half a year ago. It was just that it had been an eye opener for her when he asked and she didn't know whether or not to say she had a boyfriend. She couldn't live like that. It wasn't her. She needed clear definitions and structure, not ambiguity and uncertainty. And then Oliver had just told her to go out with whomever she wanted, and in retaliation she'd brought the "fling" with Oliver to an abrupt halt (she hated to use that term, but it was all she'd been able to come up with for it).

She would have spent time trying to read something into the fact that he'd called her for help today, but she knew there was no point. Honestly, who else would he go to? A business associate? One of the league? Chloe was probably the only person in his life that he could imagine having the slightest idea what to do with a child.

Three quarters of the way into the movie, she noticed Lara was starting to doze off. She checked her phone. It was almost eight o'clock. Go figure. She carefully nudged Oliver and indicated Lara. He frowned before looking at the girl, realization dawning.

They waited a few more minutes for her to finally pass out completely, and Chloe silently took her from Oliver's arms. Balancing Lara on one hip Chloe walked over to the bag Lois had left and fished out a set of pajamas. Then she went into Oliver's guest room, a room that had once been considered her territory, even though she ended up sleeping in Oliver's room more often than not.

Carefully, she undressed Lara, pausing when the little girl opened her eyes blearily for a moment, giving a yawn. She helped the Lara get the nightgown over her head, and figured not brushing her teeth one night of her life wouldn't do Lara much harm. So she pulled back the covers on the oversized bed and gently tucked her in. Lara reached her arms out lazily, and Chloe smiled, leaning over obligingly to be hugged. She gave Lara a quick kiss on the cheek and pushed the hair out of her forehead fondly.

She turned around to go turn out the lights and almost jumped when she found Oliver watching her from the doorway. He raised a finger to his lips unnecessarily and hit the switch for her as she exited the room, avoiding any contact with him.

She heard him close the door behind him and follow her to the kitchen, where she picked up her bag once again. She felt almost nervous, feeling his eyes on her back as she moved. She straightened up and turned to face him, opening her mouth to say some meaningless goodbye or other, but Oliver cut her short, closing the space between them. He slipped the bag off her shoulder and set it back down. Her heart thudded wildly as his hands slipped around her waste and he looked intently into her eyes.

Chloe frowned, feeling her cheeks flush and wondering what he was going to do. He raised a hand to tuck the hair behind her ear.

"Thanks for the help," he said, sounding completely in control. Only because she knew him so well did she recognize that he was really putting forth a great effort to maintain that calm demeanor.

She nodded nervously. "It was no big deal. You honestly had things pretty well under control, all things considered."

He didn't say anything, didn't let go of her, just continued to watch her. Finally, she had to force some sort of speech or go crazy.

"Oliver--"

"When did you stop calling me Ollie?" he wondered out loud.

She felt her brow crease. "I don't know."

"I miss you," he said, completely derailing her.

She wanted to tell him she missed him, too, but she knew she couldn't. She'd promised herself she wasn't going to fall into this trap again because she couldn't handle. She couldn't deal with feeling more for him than he did for her. "I should go," she said finally, tearing her eyes from him to look at the door.

He didn't release her. "I'm sorry," he said.

She looked back to him. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I know it's way too late for it to matter, but I thought I should say something anyway. Telling you to date whoever you want was probably the stupidest thing I've ever said to you. I was just hurt that you wanted to see someone else."

Chloe could only stare at him, which he misinterpreted, letting her go at last.

"Right, well, anyway, thanks again for coming over to help. Whatever you say, it was a big deal to me."

Chloe grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face her again. "That was it?" she asked incredulously.

"Not the greatest apology, I know, but--"

"No. I mean that was why you told me to see other people? Because you thought I _wanted to?"_

He frowned, confused.

She swatted his arm angrily. "You're an idiot!"

"Ow! Wait...what?" he looked at her in confusion, trying to keep his voice down.

"I didn't want to see other men, you imbecile. I wanted to know what the heck we were doing! Someone asked me out and when I said no, he wanted to know whether or not it was because I already had a boyfriend and I had no earthly clue!" She swatted his arm a second time.

"Stop that!" he hissed, pulling his arm out of her reach. Then her words sunk in on him. "Wait...you didn't actually want to see someone else?"

"No!" she hissed.

"Then what the hell happened?" he asked loudly.

"Oliver, shush!" Chloe whispered, glancing warily down the hall toward Lara's room.

He cringed sheepishly.

"I'll tell you what happened," she said irritably. "You asked how my day went, and I told you someone asked me out, and before I could say anything else about it, you told me to go out with the guy!"

She couldn't believe that his stupid pride was what had ended what was potentially the best thing in her life.

"I'm--"

"An arrogant idiot?" she supplied.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm--"

"Stupid and pigheaded?"

"No, I'm--"

"A complete jerk?"

With a frustrated sound he grabbed her and kissed her. Pulling away, he said very evenly, "I'm sorry."

Chloe stood rooted to the spot, unsure what had just happened.

"Chloe, I love you," he said before she could even comprehend the apology.

"I--I--" she stammered, not knowing what to do.

"Please stay," he asked her once again, and she knew he meant something wholly different than he had earlier that evening.

She tried to say something, but found she didn't know what she wanted to say.

He waited patiently, anxiety etched across his face.

Then a small, plaintiff voice reached them from down the hallway.

"Lollie?"

* * *

The spell broken, Oliver left Chloe to go attend Lara. He peered in through the door to find her sitting up worriedly in bed.

"What's the matter, sport?" he asked.

"It's dark," she said shortly.

He dropped his head. Fear of the dark. Brilliant. Tomorrow he'd put up Christmas lights all over the room if it meant never being interrupted in such a critical moment ever again. He walked into the room and flicked on a soft lamp in the corner.

"Better?" he asked.

She nodded, reaching her arms out as she had done for Chloe earlier. He walked over to her and allowed her to throw her little arms around his neck for a hug.

"Night, Lara," he said.

"Night, Unkie Lollie," she muttered pleasantly, snuggling back under the blankets.

Oliver thought about climbing in with her. Hiding under the covers sounded like a fairly good plan, all things considered.

With a determined sigh, though, he patted her on the head and walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door. He turned around and his heart nearly stopped when he found Chloe standing an inch from him.

"Jeez!" he whispered at her. She was frowning.

"Don't ever do anything so asinine ever again!" she told him sharply.

He nodded nervously.

Before he realized what was going on Chloe was kissing him passionately.

"I hate you," she grumbled against his lips, hands holding his face to hers.

He smirked. "No you don't. You love me, too. Admit it."

Chloe ignored him, pulling him down the hall as she kissed him.

He forcefully pulled his lips from hers. "No. I'm not going anywhere 'til you admit you love me, too," he said childishly.

She rolled her eyes and moved to kiss him again, but he dodged her playfully. "Admit it," he insisted.

"Oliver Queen, I love you desperately," she said sarcastically, attempting to close the space between them.

He allowed her one kiss before breaking away again, grinning. "Better. Now say it like you mean it."

She swatted his arm and started kissing him once more.

"Come on," he coaxed teasingly against her lips.

With a dramatic sigh, she tilted her head back. She closed her eyes and said, very calmly. "I love you, too, Ollie. Now kiss me before I change my mind."

Happier than he'd been in months, he willingly brought his lips back to hers.


End file.
